Oh, Brother
by fourthelement
Summary: Cyborg follows Bumble Bee from the Tower when a suspicious thought starts to cross his mind. Where is she going? Why? Inbetweener for Thicker Than Water, but you don't have to read that first.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans. I'm sorry to disappoint you. If I did, there'd be no such thing as Terra and Cyborg would have a lot more shows.**

**This story is an in-betweener of Thicker Than Water. You don't have to read that to understand this, but if you are reading that story, you should read this, or TTWVII won't make sense to you.

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_Maybe I can get some alone time with Bee,_ Cyborg thought. He hadn't hung out with his girlfriend since the last time he was in Steel City. That was, what, last Christmas? It was May now.

He was headed to the practice arena with the rest of the Titans when he noticed Bumble Bee sneaking off, away from the group. He wondered what she was doing.

She walked down the main streets of Jump City, past the stores and arcades and places they'd hung out before. Bee kept glancing about nervously, almost as though what she was doing was bad. It confused Cyborg. She wasn't usually so paranoid. Then it hit him.

_She's cheating on me._

That was _so_ not cool! Cyborg had dated a lot of girls, but he'd only gone steady with three girls: Andrea, the girl he was with before his accident, Jinx, whom he had to break up with for obvious reasons, and Bumble Bee. He'd never cheated on anyone, ever, and none of his girlfriends cheated on him.

It brought back memories, really. The accident had happened right after one of his greatest football games. He'd made some excellent tackles and his team, the Whitmer Eagles, had won the state championships. Vic Stone had been riding home with his mother when something strange happened – some sort of demon-thing attacked the car. He'd jumped from the car, thrown stuff at it, hoping to protect his mom, but the thing jumped on him, and that was the last thing he remembered before waking up with a digital voice in his mind and vision like a computer screen.

And Andrea, his best friend, his girlfriend, had never come to visit him. It wasn't until a week later that he found out she was killed in a crash resulting from his little escapade with the creature.

But Cyborg had bad luck like that. He liked Jinx, too. She was so nice to him when he was Stone, and she was a great person. Well, besides the fact that she was HIVE. At least he didn't cause her death. Still, they couldn't date because of the side difference.

He met Bumble Bee at HIVE, too, and she'd asked him to a dance. Cyborg didn't really know her then, and he didn't even find out what side she was on until she almost killed him the second time he was at the HIVE, only the underwater. When she became the leader of Titans East, he finally got the guts to ask her out. Ever since that first date to The Point, he'd been head-over-heels in love with her. And now -

_Shoot,_ he thought. Cy really liked Bumble Bee. He really hoped that she wasn't messing around.

Cyborg continued to follow her, occasionally ducking behind trees when she turned, once diving behind a parked SUV outside Pedro's Pirate Pizza Palace. For some strange reason, he didn't want Bumble Bee to know he was following her. He had an investigation to carry out! Cy noticed that she kept mumbling nervously to herself, and she acted more like a skittish horse than a bumblebee.

She eventually made her way to the busier parts of town. The boy was shocked to see Bee head into the Jump City Mall, of all places!

_I thought she hated the mall,_ he thought, following her in anyways.

The girl ended up outside a store called "Designz." Bumble Bee just sort of stood there, looking around. Cyborg frowned. That's the store that made Robin and Beast Boy's suits, the one Raven took her ripped capes to, where Starfire got repair supplies for her own clothing.

He sighed in relief. Bumble Bee was just going in to get her suit fixed! That was all. Happily, Cyborg started to step from the bush he was occupying, when something happened.

"Alan!" she exclaimed, as she ran over to a boy across the path. Cyborg quickly hopped back into the fake bush.

_No…_

The guy watched helplessly as his girlfriend hugged a boy an inch or so taller than her. He was nice-looking, and pretty well-built. _That guy must work out,_ Cyborg thought, judging from his muscular expertise. His black hair puffed out half an inch from his skull, and his dark skin made a sharp contrast to his white T-shirt. He also looked vaguely familiar, although Cyborg couldn't quite place the well-known trait.

"Wow, Alan," Bumble Bee said softly. "It's been so long…I can't believe it's you. We haven't seen each other since – oh, jeez, since this happened." She indicated her wings.

The Homebreaker – as Cyborg was beginning to think of him – smiled down at her. "I know. A few years is too long, especially for us." Alan paused. "I heard that you're Bumble Bee now, Karen. Is that right?"

_Karen?_ Cyborg thought. _She never told_ me _her real name._

She nodded, pulling away. "Yes. I'm Bumble Bee. Not Karen anymore, not after all that. And I'm with the Teen Titans. I lead Titans East."

"That's great!" he exclaimed. "I'm betting you know that Calvin got into the business?"

Bumble Bee nodded. "Frizz? Yeah! I can't accept the fact that he actually got a record made."

Alan snorted. "Yeah," he said. "The guy can't even rap. And his lyrics don't rhyme. But the album must be really important to him." He paused. "It's got that song on it about – well, it's called Honeycomb. And you know what it is."

"Yeah…" They both fell quiet.

"I can't believe it," he said again. "So – what did you want to meet me here for, in this mall? Why didn't you want me to meet you at the Titans Tower?"

Bumble Bee looked extremely embarrassed. "Well – you see, there's this guy – " Cyborg reddened, understanding whom "this guy" was.

"Oh," he said, slightly angrily. "You didn't want me talking to your _boyfriend_, huh?"

"That's not it!" she flared. "Oh, brother. I knew you'd react this way, Alan, and _that_ is why I didn't want you coming. Cyborg doesn't know anything about my former life. I – I'm afraid to tell him. But I'll have to now, won't I?" she added sullenly. "Especially because of you. But I also wanted you here." Bumble Bee dragged him into Designz.

At that point, Cyborg came out of the bushes and sat on the nearest bench. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. This Alan guy, he was one of Bumble Bee's old boyfriends or something, and she wanted –

Him.

He couldn't take it. Cyborg stood up. Bumble Bee was so important to him. What did this guy have that he didn't?

_A life,_ he realized. _Arms and legs. He's freaking human, for God's sake._ He remembered the muscles the other guy had. _She can never see me that way,_ he thought sadly. _I'm just not good enough for Bumble Bee._

Well, he could at least say good-bye.

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**Rory: Aww, poor Cy! That was really short, I know, but it was just right. Perfect for this story. It's going to be short anyways.**

**What do you all think? What's Bumble Bee going to decide? You tell me what you think, then come back to find out if you're right!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Don't own. Don't claim. Don't want trouble. Don't hurt me!**

**Part two of Oh, Brother! This tells a little more of the story from another angle. Let's see how ya like this one. It'll be a little bit longer, I think, but I'm typing this before I type the story, so…I have no clue. Just read already!

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When Bumble Bee found Alan's e-mail address by chance on his blog, she was very excited. She hadn't seen him since she first sprouted her wings, when she was just thirteen. She was now seventeen and Bumble Bee wanted to see him so bad.

In the e-mail, she told Alan to meet her at the mall, even though she couldn't stand the stupid places. He sometimes turned into a possessive jerk, and she didn't want him to meet Cyborg before she explained things to him. Her boyfriend made her feel so – _special_, and she didn't want anyone or anything to change their relationship. She would deal with the information Alan had given her over e-mails, then take him back to the Tower and introduce him to everyone. Yes, that was the plan.

On the way to the mall, she got this intense feeling that someone was following her. She had that strange little 'buzz' feeling that told her where her enemies and friends were during a battle, even though there was no battle. When Bumble Bee would look, no one was there.

Finally, she found the appointed spot and waited for him. He was only a minute or so late. Bee nearly gasped when she saw him. He was so tall now! The last time they'd been together, he was half a foot shorter and his hair was cropped shorter. Alan smiled when he saw her. They talked for a few minutes, and then Bumble Bee dragged him into Designz.

She had been waiting for this for four years.

At the counter was her favorite outfitter, Chanel, who'd done the original design of Bumble Bee's suit. "Bee!" she squealed, running out from behind the counter to pull her friend into a tight squeeze.

"Hey, Chay," Bumble Bee said, hugging the shorter girl back. "It's great to see you!" She examined the badge on the girl's chest. "Whoa, what's that?"

Chanel grinned. "Well, since you moved over to Steel City, the manager quit because my designs were requested way more than his. Now I'm the manager of Designz!"

"No way," she said softly. The other girl nodded. "Well, I have a favor to ask you."

She gave her a questioning look. "Anything for my favorite customer."

When Cyborg finally got up the guts to enter Designz, he found Bumble Bee sitting alone on a round blue chair, occasionally looking up from _Today's Teen Girl_ to gaze at the dressing room.

The store creeped Cy out. Along one wall was a huge shelf, holding bolts and rolls of Spandex fabric in hundreds of different colors, a million shades of blue, thousands of reds, a multitude of stretchy fabric! Along the other wall were the dressing rooms and a pair of what seemed to be offices. At the back of the store was a tall glass case, showcasing mannequins that wore duplicates of the Titans' uniforms: a pale Beast Boy grinned out at nothing, a colorless Robin raised a fake arm in greeting. They weren't alone, either. Batman and Superman stared out from one corner as well. In between the walls, racks of original-design suits hung on racks. Shelves held unique crests and badges. Men and boys' boots were stacked on a shelving unit. Heels and boots for girls were on the other side. From a metal frame hung belts and bags. Boxes held hundreds of pairs of gloves. A set of books by the freestanding cash register held order forms and sets.

He shivered. He was glad his uniform came with his body.

Remembering what he had to do, Cyborg approached Bumble Bee sadly. "Hey, Bee," he said quietly.

The girl had been reading, and she jumped about half a foot in the air. She looked to see who it was, and dropped the magazine. "Cyborg!" Bumble Bee squeaked. "What – what are you doing here?"

"I – followed you from the Tower," he explained. A look of comprehension spread across her face. "And I – uh – I saw everything."

Her face dropped. "You saw Alan," she guessed quietly.

The boy nodded. "And I understand, Bee."

She shot him an odd look. "You do?"

"Yeah, I do," Cy replied, nodding. He sunk down before her, balancing on one knee. "You really care about him. And don't let me stand in your way.

Now, Bumble Bee looked really confused.

"I know you need things from your old life," he continued, almost regretting the words he was about to say. But Cyborg really loved Bumble Bee, and he wanted nothing more than for her to be happy. Even if it meant he was miserable. "You should always remember that part of your time on Earth. So, Bee, I know you want to stay with the – with Alan. He'll – I'm sure he'll make you happy. It'll be good for you, to have someone like him in your life."

His voice nearly cracked. Cy got it under control and continued. "I know you're about to break up with me, and I just wanted to, you know, tell you this. That I understand, and I know why. Because you loved him then, and you still do. I'll never be good enough for you, anyways. I'm not human, Bee, and you deserve someone whole."

She was shaking her head. "No," she said. "You're wrong."

"You know it's true," he told her. "You do. You deserve better. You're wonderful and perfect, and I'm just not enough. I'm not. So, I just wanted to say, before we split, that – that I loved you, Bumble Bee." He gazed at her, straight in the eye. "I loved you for a long time. Loved you then, I love you now, and I'll love you until I die." He straightened, blinking rapidly. _I will not cry,_ he told himself sternly. "That's all I wanted to tell you. I'll just go now, and you can forget all about me."

Alan chose that precise moment to step out of the dressing room. Chanel was pushing him. "I'm telling you, it won't work," he said, then froze at the sight of the scene before him.

Cyborg froze, too. The other guy was wearing a sleeveless, black-and-yellow shirt that stretched across his chest. His black shorts were loose and stretchy, and black boots went to his calf. A pair of black gloves with yellow fingertips covered his arms up to just below his elbow. But the most shocking thing was the pair of shining, vaguely diamond-shaped insect wings that spread from his back, the top two reaching over his head and the bottom two descending to his knees. Now, Cyborg remembered what it was that was familiar about this guy…

Bumble Bee smiled up at her confused boyfriend. She kissed him softly on the cheek. "Cyborg," she said gently, walking over to the other boy. "Let me introduce my brother, Alan. Brother, dear," she said, turning to him, "This is Cyborg. The guy I'm in love with."

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**Rory: MWAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**So, what did you think? I'm sure you didn't expect him to be her brother…**

**This was a really fun chapter to write, and the story was as well. Cyborg's little weaknesses and insecurities when it came to his girlfriend, and his long confession of love to Bee. They were such FUN to write!**

**So, if you want to hear more about Alan, go on and get up to date with Thicker Than Water. If you want more Bee and Cy, just tell me so! Writing this made me a MUCH bigger Cy/Bee fan. I'll have to write a LOT more about these two…**


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